Five Things You Need to Read Today

Here’s your weekly update, for subscribers only, drawing your attention to five stories that are worth catching. Today, the main theme is our struggle to assert facts over narratives or symbolism.

1. How Bad Ideas Happen

I have lamented before about how many bad ideas for the expansion of government–the basic income, the individual mandate, cap-and-trade, income tax withholding–have come from people who are on the political right, or even libertarians. This is what happens when you’re not against the basic ideas behind the welfare state but just want to apply them in a more practical manner.

The latest example is an idea just floated in the Wall Street Journal by Kristin Shapiro.

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